Ownership and Political Economy Analysis

A recurring theme in programming is “insufficient ownership” of donor funded projects. Political Economy Analysis, on the other hand, fundamentally asks a different question – it asks how can we make programming relevant to respond to or fit into existing ownership structures?

The problem is that different actors and officials mean different things when they talk about ownership. They also look in different places for ownership fragmenting how analysis is done. What is clear is that ownership is not a statement of interest from a minister nor is it the agreement of an official to support a particular initiative.

Instead, I propose that we approach the issue of ownership more systematically – ownership should be conceived as:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<!--[endif]-->Policy: A Statement of Interest in the Particular Issue. This should be reflected in the national development plan.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<!--[endif]-->Organisational Mandate: A designated ministry of government body responsible for implementing the policy.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<!--[endif]-->High-Level Support or Political Buy In: A clear indication that the Minister or Permanent Secretary is committed to both implementing the policy and using the mandated institution to do so.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<!--[endif]-->Officials and Civil Servants Mandated for Delivery: Do the organogram, job descriptions, skills and decision making structure enable government officials to exercise ownership?

In practice this would mean that we designate at the identification and formulation phase that the fiches show exactly what aspect of policy the action is intended to support? which ministry/government body is mandated to support it? what indication we have that high-level officials are eager to implement? and whether or not the civil servants and government officials are mandated, skilled and allowed to do their jobs?

Surely, if we insist on elaborating these basic principles of ownership we will have a sounder basis to make the political economy analysis practical and implementable. Without emphasising these key principles of ownership, however, do we not just risk political economy analysis deflecting attention away from the fundamental question of aid effectiveness: how do we make our programming relevant to decision makers and beneficiaries?

I would much appreciate your feedback and thoughts.